This section will consider the CVS-specific procedure and several of the options in terms of their presentation in IntelliJ IDEA.

To update local information

Select one or more files and/or directories in any navigation view (for example, Project Tool Window).

On the main menu, select VCS | Update Project or on the context menu of the selection choose CVS | Update File (Directory). The Update dialog for a project or file opens. In case of project update, select CVS tab.

Specify the following options:

Branch Merging

You can choose to merge your local file(s) with the counterpart(s) in one or two CVS branches. In the CVS command-line interface, this is the -j option.

The option Don't Merge is selected by default, as merging across branches is not commonly needed. If you choose one of the other options, one or both of the text fields are enabled (depending on the choice of options). Clicking the Browse button next to each field opens the Select Tag dialog box which lists all the branch tags maintained by the repository on the CVS server. Locate the branch you want to merge with, select it in the list, and click OK.

Use Version

You can optionally update your local system from some different revision. You can choose a revision by its tag or by its date. The Default option synchronizes with your file's current revision, as this is the most common synchronization. The other options for Use Version are:

By tag (-r):When updating a single file, you can choose the revision either by Revision or Tag. When you choose this option, the text field and corresponding ellipsis button are enabled. Enter a revision number or tag in the text field, or click the ellipsis button and select either a revision or a tag in the resulting dialog.

When updating multiple files (selected individually, or when invoking update on a directory), you can only select the revision by Tag.

By date (-d): You can update from the revision of a specific date. This is possible whether you are invoking update on one file or multiple files or directories. When you choose this option, the date defaults to the current date. To specify a different date, click the ellipsis button and specify the desired date in the Choose Date dialog which appears.

Reset sticky data (-A)

If the last checkout or update of the selected file(s) was from some revision that was specified by tag or date, the tag/date information is sticky for the file(s). If you now want to update these sticky-tagged files from the HEAD revision, select this option in combination with selecting the Default option in Use Version so that the sticky information is removed.